You Never Know
by Knight-Dawn
Summary: "Lea, she isn't going to kill me—" "She might as well! I swear, it ain't worth it!" "He's a lost cause, Lea. Head over heels—I should know." Riku, Lea, and Terra meet up in a bar and have some brotherly bonding time. Contains RikuShi and TerrAqua pairings. One-shot inspired by the notable lack of Terra/Riku/Lea comparison stories on here. Companion to my other KH stories.


You Never Know

"C'mon, Riku... I know you like Xion, but—"

"I don't just _like_ her, Lea. I _love_ her. We've been together for years—"

"Yeah, but you're still so _young—_"

"—_Living _together, Lea. Even if we're young, we're _of age_..."

"Only if you count her as—"

"_Shut up already!_" Riku yells a little too loudly, slamming down his glass on the counter of the bar. All eyes suddenly turn to the duo, and Riku silences himself and blushes furiously. He stares into the empty glass and wonders if coming here with Lea was really such a good idea. He's not so used to drinking and is already feeling the effects despite having only had that one glass so far.

Lea lifts his _third_ glass to his mouth and swallows the last of it, setting it down with a smirk as if challenging Riku to drink another. Riku knows better than to try—he doesn't want to go home wasted tonight. He has... other plans.

"Well?" Lea asks him. "Got something else to say or is that it?"

Riku nods and looks up at him, feeling slightly calmer after having a moment to think. "I really love her, okay? And before you get started again, listen to me. Do you know how many times I've almost lost her already? I know what life is like without her—I've gone down that road before. I never want to again. It would _kill_ me."

Lea shrugs and gestures at the barmaid to bring him another glass. "Yeah, yeah—I know. I got that much memorized. But... Really. Marriage, Riku? Are you sure you're ready...?"

"Yes," Riku says, carefully. "I am—we _both_ are."

The barmaid brings another glass for Lea—by the glance they exchange, they must know each other _quite_ well—and he takes a sip.

Riku sighs, unable to comprehend how the red-head is able to consume so much—_years_ of practice, maybe—and nods at him.

"Alright, you finish that one and we'll go—"

"Oh no," Lea laughs out loud, waving the barmaid back over. "You're getting another one, too. No way I'm letting you go off to propose to your girlfriend—who happens to also be one of my best friends—without having fun one last time!"

"Lea, she isn't going to kill me—"

"She might as well! Have you seen what marriage does to guys? I swear, it ain't worth it! Bring the man another tall one!"

Riku is certain by now that Lea is finally somewhat affected by the alcohol. "Alright, I think you've had enough..." He grabs the half-full glass from Lea, who shoots him a death glare and tries to grab it back when both men are distracted by the door opening—or, more specifically, by the door opening and _Terra_ walking in.

"Speak of the devil," Lea chuckles.

He finds a seat next to Riku and nods at the bartender. "Bring me two, please."

Riku stares at Terra blankly in shock. Really? Riku knows him better than that! "Terra? What's gotten into you?"

"Fight with Aqua again?" Lea suggests. Riku glares at him, then glances back at Terra in confusion as he shakes his head.

"No," Terra sighs, a strange look crossing his face.

Lea frowns. "Well, out with it man! What's with the long face—"

"She's pregnant," Terra mumbles, and both Riku and Lea stare at him wide-eyed in surprise.

Lea then shakes his head and looks up at the ceiling. "Oh, boy. See, Riku? What'd I warn you about..." Terra raises an eyebrow at Lea, and Lea sighs. "Riku's planning to propose to Xion tonight."

Terra's eyes widen for a moment, but then his face loosens as he smiles. "Oh, is he? Well, I wish the both of you the best of luck... If you're as much like me as I hear then you're going to _need_ all of it."

Riku grins broadly at Terra, clapping him on the shoulder. "Still—that's great news, Terra! Congratulations!"

Terra looks down into his glass before taking a long sip, and Riku can only frown at him. Terra sets down the empty glass silently and grabs the second one. "Alright, really... Is something bothering you, Terra?"

Terra's hand tightens around the glass until his fingers are white. Riku knows Terra's not much of a drinker, either, and can tell that he's already feeling the effects of the first glass, too.

"C'mon, Terra..." Lea sighs. "You can tell us whatever's on your mind, y'know?"

Terra remains silent for a long moment before sighing and putting his face in his hands. "What if it's like me—the kid, I mean? What if it takes the wrong path like I did—what if the darkness in my heart gets in _it_ somehow... through _me_..."

Riku rolls his eyes. "Aren't _you_ the one who told _me_ not to worry about that? Terra, everyone but the seven princesses of heart has at least a _little_ darkness in them. It's _normal_. As long as you raise the kid right they'll turn out just fine—"

"What if I _don't _raise it right, Riku? What if I'm a _terrible_ father? I've done terrible things before..."

To Riku's surprise, Lea stands up and punches him in the shoulder to get his attention. Terra blinks and stares at Lea in shock, and Lea crosses his arms.

"So what?" Lea asks. "Everyone has something in their past that they're not proud of. Deal with it. You know better than most people—'cept maybe for _him_," Lea nods at Riku, "what darkness can do to a person. Teach your kid that. Then they'll know better, too. Just don't hide anything from them—that's the _worst_ thing you could do."

Riku snorts—he can't really help it. "And who made you the expert on this? You don't even have a _girlfriend_, Lea..."

Lea sits down again and shrugs. "I've had a lot of girlfriends in the past, though. And my brother's got a fiancee he _never _shuts up about. I also remember how my parents were—trust me, if I _ever_ have a kid I'll never make half the mistakes they did..."

Terra smirks a little. "Maybe not, but you'll make a bunch of completely different ones."

"I think I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, 'kay?" Lea grins. "Like I said, I don't even know that I'll _ever_ have a kid to mess up in the first place..."

"You'll find someone someday," Riku tells him. "I used to think I'd never find anyone, either—of all the girls I knew the only one I really liked was Kairi, and I _knew_ she'd end up with Sora in the end..."

"And I honestly thought Xion and Roxas would end up together," Lea chuckled. "You never _really_ know, Riku."

"I know," Riku says, smiling wistfully. "...I learned that when I met _her_. She changed _everything_."

Terra smiled and shook his head before sharing a glance with Lea. "He's a lost cause, Lea. Head over heels in love—I should know."

Lea sighs in defeat and leans way back on his barstool—almost falling flat on his back in the process. Finally, he leans in and claps Riku on the shoulder.

"Okay, fine. You win. Go on—you already know she'll say yes, right?"

Riku nods, blushing deeply. It is, after all, the only commitment they _haven't_ yet made.

"Good luck," Terra tells him, grinning at the younger man as Riku stands up, throws on his jacket, and heads for the door.

Riku nods back at him with a smirk before he opens it. "Same to you, Dad."

Terra rolls his eyes and waves him off, turning back to the half-empty glass in front of him. Riku walks out the door into the night.

The last thing he hears is Lea's unmistakable voice yelling after him:

"You better be good to her, Riku—or I'll sick Roxas on you again! Got that memorized?"

Riku smiles to himself—he knows that's the best he's gonna get from Lea. It's better than he'd hoped for from his former enemy—but the two of them are more alike than they sometimes appear to be.

...He's still grinning to himself when he gets back home.

...

**Author: **Well, this particular plot bunny started while having a conversation with my friend and fellow fanfic writer Amatus a while back...

Basically, we both noticed that Terra, Riku, and Lea have a lot of similarities. You know, their all the oldest members of their trios who act as big brother figures to the younger ones, all three of them seem to get into a lot of trouble, etc.

But while there are a lot of Terra/Riku comparisons out there, there aren't many Terra/Lea or Riku/Lea comparisons made at all.

So I said I wanted to write a Terra/Riku/Lea story myself. You know, just a story where the three of them goof off and have a good time together.

This is the end result. ^^ I'm _quite_ happy with it, if I do say so myself. :D

And for those who want to know, Terra and Aqua's kid will be a boy named Amatus who will (eventually) end up with Riku and Xion's eldest kid, Hikari. I've already got a couple drabbles about them in my 100 theme challenge story "Two Hearts."

Thanks a lot for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
